'Internet Addiction' linked to Depression

Psychologists believe that there is a strong link between heavy internet use and depression.

A recent study, reported in a medical journal found 1.2% of people surveyed were "internet addicts", and many of these were depressed. UK based Leeds University team stressed they could not say one necessarily caused the other, and that most internet users did not suffer mental health problems the conclusions were based on 1,319 responses to an on-line questionnaire. Recruitment was via links on social networking sites. People were asked how much they used the internet and for what purposes. They were also asked a series of questions to assess whether they suffered from depression.

The respondents were aged 16-51, with and average age of 21. The authors found that a small number of users had developed a compulsive internet habit, replacing real life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. They classed 18 respondents-1.2% of the total- as "internet addicts". This group spent proportionately more time on gaming, massaging and online community websites.

'Darker Side'

Lead author of the report, Dr Catriona Morrison said "The internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side". While many of us use the internet to pay bills, shop and send e-mails, there is a small subset of the population who find it hard to control how much time they spend online, to the point where it interferes with their daily activities.

"The internet addicts were significantly more depressed than the non-addicted group, with a depression score five times higher." The average score of the internet-addicted group put them in the category of moderate-to-severe levels of depression. "Our research indicates that excessive internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first –are depressed people drawn to the internet or does the internet cause depression?" said Dr Morrison. "Now we need to investigate the nature of that relationship and consider the issue of causation."

'Emotional Distress'

Critics of the research say that internet addiction cannot be diagnosed reliably. Dr Vaughan Bell, from the institute of Psychiatry at King's College London said that by definition, those identified as "Internet Addicts" are emotionally distressed, so the conclusions are "not a big surprise". In terms of cause and effect, he pointed out that previous research has suggested that people out that previous research has suggested that people who are depresses or anxious may be more likely to use the internet rather than the other way round. He added: "There are genuinely people who are depressed or anxious who use the interment to the exclusion of the rest of there lives, but there are similar people who watch too much TV, bury themselves in books or go shopping to excess." There is no good evidence that the problem is the internet itself." Mental Health charities said the way people send their time and the kind of social interaction they engage in could well impact on mental well being.

'Social Connections'

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, pointed out that, in some ways, the internet can be helpful. He said: "To the extent that the internet encourages meaningful friendship and social connections it can be a very good influence on people's lives". However, social interaction online should not usually replace an offline social life. We should take note of this study's findings –it suggests that further research in the area is needed. Sophie Corlett, of the mental health charity Mind, said: "Evidence suggests that active pursuits such as exercise and socializing with people face-to-face are among the factors that help us stay in good mental health". 
Although excessive internet use can't be said to cause mental health problems, if a we addict is substituting meaningful friendships and socializing with virtual contact on the internet, this might have and adverse affect on their mental well being."

Mobile Phones Become Pocket Bank In Poor Countries:

An Afghan police officer gets his salary in a text message on his mobile phone. A Kenyan worker dials a few numbers to send money to his family. The rise of banking transactions through mobile phones is giving a whole new meaning to pocket money in parts of the developing world that lack banks or cash machines.
Mobile money applications are emerging as potent financial tools in rural and remote areas of the globe, allowing people with no bank accounts to get paid, send remittances or settle their bills. "One billion consumers in the world have a mobile phones but no access to a bank account" said Gavin Krugel, the director of mobile banking strategy at GSM Association, an industry group of 800 wireless operators. "We see it as very big opportunity," he said at the recently held Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the industry's annual four-day event. Mobile banking began to emerge six years ago in the Philippines and South Africa, where 8.5 million and 4.5 million people, respectively, use such services.

Today, 40 million people worldwide use mobile money, and the industry is growing, according to the GSMA. In Afghanistan, the national police has been testing a service from mobile operator Roshan to pay its officers --a system that helps to limit corruption, the company said. "We are currently moving from a trial to a full launch in paying the Afghan national police," said Roshan's head of mobile commerce, Zahir Jhoja. Every month, police officers receive a text message in the language they prefer informing them they have received their salaries, Jhoja said. A voice message is also left on the phone "because a lot of them are illiterate and cannot read," he said. The officer can then go get his money from an authorized Roshan agent.

America: First flight of a fighter jet with bio-fuel

Today global warming is one of the biggest issue of the world. Scientists are constantly alert from the rise in global temperature. To deal with it they give proposal to reduce emission of the green house gases and the petroleum products have the biggest part of it. This is why in developed countries methods of fueling cars with Natural gas, Bio-Technology and Hydrogen Cell are continuously growing.

This technology now reached to fighter jets. According to International media  U.S. naval air wing make a successful experiment of  flying  their latest FA18 Super Hornet jet with bio-fuel partially.

This bio-fuel is taken from flowers of a wild plant named "Camelina". During the last two years worldwide at least 6 military and commercial aircraft are experimented to fly on bio-fuel. These experiments took place between Houston and Tokyo.

Now to get Bio-fuel Camelina plants are being given priority. Behind it the reason is that its not very necessary to find fertile ground for it and it also not require to much fertilizers and water,for this its not a threat for other cash crops like cotton or wheat. After seeing its popularity japan airline and japan air-force also started experiments on this project.